


Right love, Wrong time.

by zhenatak



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Angst, Authority?, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Falling In Love, Flirting, Intimacy, M/M, Memory Loss, Mental Health Issues, Mentions of Death, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slow Build, Swearing, Wound healing, crackship, intimate sex, please be converted to this ship i didn’t make this crackship serious for nothing, please get these two a room i know they’re fucking but still
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:13:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29094804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zhenatak/pseuds/zhenatak
Summary: Iroh II finds a man on a bay in the Fire Nation. He helps him take care of his wounds, and that can only lead to something greater.
Relationships: Amon | Noatak/ Iroh II, Amon/Iroh II (Avatar), Iroh II/ Amon, Iroh II/ Noatak
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	1. The Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> This is for crackship week 2021!!! I haven’t written anything in a long time so I hope y’all like it :)

After over twenty years of being apart, a new life with his younger brother was all he could have asked for. A new life raising goats, perhaps. Chickens? Cows? He didn't care. As long as his brother was with him. 

The Southern Water Tribe, he thought, would be perfect, he could easily bloodbend their faces without the need for surgery. His bending abilities were a curse to him, nothing more, but he would do it one more time. 

He considered the Northern Water Tribe, his home, but couldn't bear the guilt that would eat him up inside if he were to ever see his mother again. If she was even alive. 

Staring into the ocean, a tear falls from his eye, happy to be with the one person he can call family. 

His brother, however, had other plans. Twisting open the fuel tank, he places a gloved hand right on top, killing them both instantly. Unfortunately, Noatak knew exactly what he was doing, but let it happen anyway. 

\-------————

"What the fuck?" The General mumbles softly, hands on the rails of the ship, squinting close to the bay. He gasps, catching sight of a figure. He stumbles to grab his telescope. Eventually he catches it, and looks into it. Startled, he drops it and runs over to the helmsman. "Stop the ship. Now."

"But General-" 

"I said stop the fucking ship!” His commanding voice scaring the poor helmsman. He looks terrified but closes his eyes and shakes his head.

"Sir, I don't know if I can-" His small voice interrupted by an annoyed grunt and a swear. The helmsman feels a quick breeze, as the General is running right past him. 

"I don't have time for this shit."He jumps right off the ship, using his firebending to propel himself through the air. He mumbles more curses, trying to get to what looks like a person, or an animal. He assumed it was a person. 

He reaches the shore, and finds a rather attractive man. Catching his breath, he squints and studies the man's face. Dark red and purple bruises run all throughout his upper body, and a rather dark one on his face, running down his chiseled jaw. 

There's a slight familiarity to him, but he can't point out what. The man's clothes are nearly torn off, shirt completely gone. What seemed to be torn up black pants and torn up boots were the only things left on him. 

"Fuck." He curses. "What happened to you?" Pressing two fingers to his neck, he frantically mutters "come on" multiple times. He's able to find a small pulse, and lets out a breath that he didn't even know he was holding. "Thank fuck." The General wrapped his arm around his torso, easily picking him up over his shoulder. 

By this time, the ship is close enough for Iroh to jump back on. 

"What just happened, General?" One of the crewmates asks, everyone else trying not to stare in shock. Iroh rolls his eyes, and waves his hand at everyone else for them to go away. 

"Sorry for the interruption, everyone. Continue what you were all doing. Let’s go back home.” He rapidly walks over to the sick bay cabin, laying him down on one of the tables.

\------------

The man lets out a sharp gasp as he jolts awake, sitting up immediately, eyes widening when he sees Iroh standing across from him, looking through the drawers. Iroh snaps his head towards him. Before Noatak could ask anything, he's interrupted. 

"Finally, you're awake and conscious.” Iroh lets out a miniscule breath of relief, allowing himself to feel sorry for this man that seems to have been through a lot. Though he keeps his composure fairly well, he can't help but feel horrible about what could have happened. He wasn't going to press him for answers, but couldn't help his own curiosity. “I’m surprised to see you got up so soon. It’s only been an hour since I’ve brought you in.” 

"Uh.. Yeah.." The man wanted to say more, and he tried, but all that could come out was a low groan. 'Where am I? What happened to me? Who are you? Who am I?' were all thoughts running through his head, but his excruciating pain made him scream out instead. 

Looking back at Noatak, Iroh glares at him for a second, then diverts his attention back to the drawers. "And don't get up too quickly. You'll hurt yourself even more. Don't want that, do you?." 

"Whatever you say." He falls back, slamming his head on the edge of the table. "Aw, fuck!" Crying out in pain, he grabs his head where he hit it, and writhes in pain. “You should have just let me die there, doc” 

The General turns himself towards him and hesitates to walk over and help. He eventually does, and brings over a bag of ice to help with the eventual swelling. 

“I‘m not letting anyone on Fire Nation land die like that. Or anyone in dire need, for that matter.” He looks directly at Noatak while declaring this, letting him know that he’ll take care of him. “No matter how.. fucking irritating you may be.” 

Noatak scoffs and rolls his eyes, but mutters a small ‘thank you’ in response, not able to give him eye contact. The General could tell he was being genuine. 

“Now tell me, stranger, do you have a name?” He stands in front of him, hands behind his back, looking the nameless man up and down. 

He was unsure of whether or not to use a real or a fake name, but he settled on using his real name, since frankly, he was too exhausted to even come up with a fake name. 

“Noatak. That’s.. that’s my name, sir.” He nodded as the assertiveness began to return to his voice. Sitting up a lot straighter, he keeps the ice pack on the back of his head, giving the man in front of him a much better view of his incredibly toned body. The man in front of him could not help but stare for a quick second, how could he not? 

“Hmm. Water tribe, huh? Sounds like it.” The General sits on a chair close by, so he can keep talking to him while checking on him at the same time. “I like that name. Noatak. Very nice.” He repeats it once more, amused, and drags out the last a in the name, eyeing the man in front of him. 

“Thank you. I don’t suppose you’d tell me your name as well?” Noatak knew subtle flirting, and he’s ready to play the same game as him. 

The General’s brows furrowed, unsure of whether he was joking or not. He had expected more people to know who he was, being Zuko’s grandson and Izumi’s son. “Iroh. The Second. Call me Iroh.” He told him anyway, considering the fact that this guy might have just lost his memory. 

Noatak’s eyes widen slightly, realizing that someone in a high ranking is taking care of him, whether or not he exactly knows who he is. Although he may not be able to know his exact relations to royalty, he can tell by the name Iroh. “Fire Nation royal family huh? Are you a doctor?” 

Almost cringing at the statement, he laughs at the man. “Spirits no, that kind of stuff was never my friend back in my school days.” He chuckled, and Noatak’s lip curled up as well. 

“You should try and become one.” Iroh’s brows furrowed in confusion again. “You were able to make me feel a lot better than how I was before.” This time, Noatak’s voice oozes confidence. “Or do I just feel better because of the handsome man helping me out?” 

Iroh almost chokes, and he sees Noatak smirk at his reaction. He’ll admit, he was faintly flirting with the man, but did not expect him to be so forward so fast. “Are you always so forward with people you’ve just met?” 

“Only if they’re as gorgeous as you are.” He winks at the General, only getting a tight lipped and closed eye sigh in return. 

He shakes his head, trying not to let some man’s flirting catch him off guard. “Moving on.. Do you remember anything from before you were.. whatever? In that... situation?” Iroh wanted to say something, but not knowing his past doesn’t help.

Noatak’s lips pursed awkwardly to the side as he tried to think. “I don’t know. I remember leaving my home in the Northern Water Tribe and going to Ba Sing Se. Or Republic City. I don’t think there was any kind of plan.” He stopped, and tried his best to recollect his thoughts. “I uhh... Fuck. I can’t remember.” 

Iroh gets up from his seat and places his hands on Noatak’s shoulders. “It’s okay, Noatak. We can talk about it later.” Noatak nods softly. “Right now, you need some rest. Would it be okay if I took you to my home to rest there?” He knew that Noatak was going to make a flirty comeback, about how he was ‘taking him home already,’ but he was genuinely concerned for this new ‘friend’ that he had made. 

Fortunately for him, a flirty comeback didn’t even cross his mind. “That would be nice, Iroh. Thank you.” The two men smiled at each other, and Noatak felt himself drifting back to sleep. “Get some rest. You need it.” Was the last thing he heard before dozing off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two men have been living together for 2 days. What could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEY!!! sorry if this is a little bit late and the chapter’s a little short, I promise the next one is gonna be great!

Faint memories of a boat clouded his dreams. There seemed to have been another passenger, someone from one of the water tribes, perhaps. The face was still unclear to him. Unable to recall any words, the next thing he feels is an explosion of some sort. The feeling of being thrown and almost torn into pieces surrounded his entire body. 

He jolted awake once more, grabbing a bottle of water from the near bedside table. Panting for breath, he gulped the entire bottle, back leaning against his bed frame. He softly hits his head on the frame multiple times, as if trying to shake those traumatic memories out of himself. 

“Get out, get out, get out...” he whispers, so Iroh is unable hear him in the next room. Blankly staring at the ceiling for the past 3 minutes, he sighs and tries his best to go back to sleep in a comfortable bed. A feeling that was strange to him.

Before he went back to sleep, he tried to keep a blank mind as much as he could, but the almost real feeling of the explosion was all he could think about. Going to bed with this in his mind, the next dream he had was similar. It was him, underwater. He was drowning. 

His lungs filled with water, and he was sinking to the bottom of the ocean. His eyes burst open, and he bent himself out immediately, unaware of his current injuries from the explosion. Able to bring himself to the top of the ocean, just enough for his head to poke through, he swam to the closest shore, suffering in a tormenting amount of pain. 

All of his clothes were completely ripped, so he tossed everything on his upper body into the ocean, leaving him in nothing but his ripped black pants and boots. He leans back, coarse sand sticking to his body, and checks for any spots that look like they need immediate healing. It was hard to tell, since his whole body was pounding with the same amount of pain. He finds his most problematic areas and tries to health them the best that he can. 

Unfortunately his bending is weak, and he feels his heart rate starting to slow down. Drastically. He knows that he could die at any second.

Breathing deeply, he takes all the strength he has left to bloodbend his own heart. He keeps it going at the best and most normal pace he can, trying to mimic what he did to survive the snowstorm 25 years ago. 

After a few minutes of struggling to keep himself alive, he felt his heart rate returning to normal, and blacked out immediately, thus, ending his nightmare.

——

He knew Iroh was there to help him and take care of him as much as he could, but Noatak felt sick to his stomach knowing that someone else has to take care of him. From always being there for his younger brother, to an unfamiliar and odd pull to help others, he couldn’t just sit around and not take charge of something. He liked Iroh, he truly did, but was beyond tired of his ‘I need to take care of you’ attitude. 

These two had constant arguments over who had the most ‘power’ in their house. One is a General, and the other is a leader of a revolution that doesn’t even remember he’s a leader of a revolution. It’s only been 2 days.

“Morning.” Noatak sat on the couch, reading a book that Iroh had open last night. It was a book on life before the 100 year war, a book about Sozin and Roku. “Catching up on Fire Nation history?” His fingers ran through the pages of the book, lightly blowing air into his face. 

Walking behind the couch, Iroh yanked the book out of his hands. “Give me that. You made me lose my spot.” 

“Hey, were you trying to give me a paper cut?” Noatak turns around and looks up at Iroh, who was searching the pages for his bookmark. Iroh was in nothing but dark red sweatpants, and his hair was messy, but his face was clean and visibly moisturized. To anyone, he looked incredible in this view. Noatak’s eyes roaming the other man’s bare chest, he stops himself as soon as Iroh says something. Luckily, Iroh didn’t seem to notice. 

Iroh tosses his book back onto the couch, and looks Noatak in the eye. “Why on earth would I bring you to my house to heal your wounds just to give you a paper cut? A paper cut!” He leans down, elbows resting on the ledge of the couch, legs in a lunged position, trying to get to eye level with Noatak. “How. The fuck. Does that. Make sense?” Iroh raised an eyebrow at him, trying to get an answer or reply out.

Their faces were close enough that Noatak could feel his mint-scented breath on his face, but not close enough that any slight movement could get them to touch. As Iroh hovered above him, he felt small, and he hated it. He could feel the tension, but also the anxiety that filled him.

The last time Noatak felt this small was when he was a child. When his fath- when Yakone- forced him and his brother to bloodbend. 

Iroh clearly wasn’t trying to harm him, and he knew that very well. It was the fact that an authority figure of some kind was around him, and that he didn’t know how to react. He started thinking about his own life, and his past experiences with figures of authority. 

Struggling to keep eye contact with him, Noatak looked down at his hands as he played with his fingers. “Yeah. No. It..” He sighs. “It doesn’t make sense. Sorry.” Iroh could sense that he was scared, and a look of worry and almost.. regret took over his face. 

Iroh jumped over the couch, sitting right next to him. “No, no. Hey, I’m sorry. I.. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, Noatak.” Sincere in his words, he put his hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort the other man. His thumb made random shapes on his loose gray shirt. 

Noatak sighed, and finally gave him eye contact. “It’s fine. You just, intimidate me sometimes.” His voice went lower, almost to a whisper as it started breaking. “I know I shouldn’t. You’re trying to help me here.” Closing his eyes, he takes a deep breath in, trying to hold back tears. 

Looking at him in pity, Iroh sighed and moved closer to him, pulling him in for a compassionate hug. Iroh’s arms held Noatak against him, while Noatak put his head in Iroh’s shoulder. Noatak didn’t have time to think about why he’s being hugged, he just started uncontrollably sobbing at his touch, tightly wrapping his arms around Iroh’s torso. 

“It’s not me, is it?” Iroh’s voice softened, softly stroking Noatak’s hair to calm him down. Noatak didn’t respond for a minute, and the two of them stayed in that position for a little while. After a minute, Noatak realized what he was doing, and immediately let go. 

“That didn’t happen. I’m sorry, it-“ He moved to the opposite edge of the couch, face in his hands. “You know, uhh.. I wouldn’t mind you holding me if we were in another situation.” He chuckled, and Iroh just glared at him in return. His attempt at flirting with Iroh to hide his pain failed. Miserably. 

“Noatak, it’s okay.” He started to wipe his bare shoulder that was covered in tears with a random shirt he found on the couch. “I’ve seen what trauma can do to someone. I’m a General, remember.” Noatak sighed and moved closer to him again, putting his head on his shoulder. Iroh was surprised by this, but wrapped his arm around him, pulling the smaller man closer to him. “You don’t have to tell me everything, but you can start by telling me something, anything.”

“Well, I do remember something. About how I ended up injured.” He looked up at Iroh, who was looking at him in a mix of wonder and confusion.

“Tell me whatever you can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on twitter:  
> @ZUKOSAMIDALA


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